The disclosure of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/521,309, filed Aug. 8, 2011, is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
Modular pouch attachment systems and methods for carrier garments, hereinafter sometimes referred to by the term carrier or carriers, such as, but not limited to, vests, cummerbunds, belts, and the like, for carrying holders such as, but not limited to, pouches for holding items and accessories on a person's body, are well known. Advantages include an ability to attach pouches and accessories to a platform and easily remove them; rearrange or configure them; and exchange for other pouches or accessories.
Reference, Kirk et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,724,707, issued on Mar. 10, 1998; and Johnson, U.S. Pat. No. 7,047,570, issued on May 23, 2006, which show representative commercially available pouch attachment systems and methods. Typically, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B of the U.S. Pat. No. 7,047,570, reproduced here as FIGS. 1 and 2, such known systems utilize one or more elongate woven webs or straps, sewn or otherwise affixed to at longitudinally spaced locations to a panel comprising fabric layers, forming a side by side pattern of loops. If multiple webs or straps are used, they are laterally spaced apart, e.g., vertically, so as to extend horizontally across a surface of the garment or other device, at vertically spaced intervals, such that the loops of the webs will be vertically aligned. A pouch or other accessory will include one or more elongate straps configured to be inserted through the aligned loops. The straps will typically each be attached at one end to the pouch or accessory, and have an opposite free end. The backside of the pouch or other accessory will typically include additional loops positioned to be disposed in alternating relation to the loops on the panel, such that the straps can be alternatingly woven through the loops on the panel and the back of the pouch or accessory, for attaching the pouch or accessory to the panel. The free end of the attachment straps can then be secured, using a snap, hook and loop fastener, or the like, to the back of the pouch or accessory.
Stated advantages in U.S. Pat. No. 5,724,707 of the known pouch attachment systems such as just discussed, include that they are light weight, quiet to use, and stronger than earlier known systems, including known systems using hook and loop type fasteners. Shortcomings of hook and loop fasteners mentioned in U.S. Pat. No. 5,724,707 include heavy weight, noisiness, low strength, and failure under dirty and dusty conditions. Although past known carriers utilizing hook and loop fasteners have suffered from these disadvantages, inherent advantages of hook and loop fasteners such as ease and familiarity of use, and non-metallic construction, still make them attractive. The non-metallic attribute is particularly desirable for military applications wherein the carrier is subject to explosions which can cause metallic objects to fragment and possibly injure wearers. As a result, it is still sought to find a manner of use hook and loop type fasteners for attachment of holders and the like, particularly for military carrier applications.
Therefore, what is sought is an attachment system and method that utilizes the advantageous attributes of hook and loop fastening systems, but which overcomes one or more of the know disadvantages thereof, set forth above.